Antiques, collector’s items, comics, vintage and second-hand clothing, curiosities, and more. Get ready to marvel at the most fascinating street markets in Spain.
Not only are these the best street markets in Spain, but they are also the most curious and original: antiques, collector’s items, comics, vintage and second-hand clothing, curiosities… Get ready to be amazed.
The culture of flea markets in Spain is deeply rooted. Perhaps it dates back to the Middle Ages, or to the time when Jews and Arabs traded in the cities of a rich and fertile country, which provided a wealth of goods worthy of being exchanged, bought and sold.
These street markets were not just markets where people stocked up on food, drink, clothing, household items or any knick-knack that seemed interesting. These markets were a true way of life. A cultural trait that defined the inhabitants of the area.
In these markets, people bargained, conversed and showed off their best clothes, people of the most diverse conditions. They were a true ode to life and the culture of the place.
Today, street markets are still very present in our country. There are themed ones (vegetables, fruits, clothing, handicrafts, ecological, second-hand items, etc.), but there are also others that combine a bit of everything.
Visit to flea markets in Spain guarantees a fascinating experience. They are always the best places to sit and watch how the locals relate to each other.
Places full of color, history and an ancestral aroma that brings with it an inexplicable nostalgia.
Moreover, we can find really fascinating objects in them. Those things that, without knowing it, we had always been looking for. These are some of the best street markets in Spain.
TOP 7 Flea Markets in Spain
MERCADILLO DE NAVACERRADA (MADRID)
The Rastro de Navacerrada has been serving as a meeting point for antique seekers, trinkets, handicrafts, and exotic products from Madrid and other points in central Spain for over 25 years.
It is held on Sunday mornings between Paseo de Madrid and Paseo de los Españoles in Navacerrada.
In this street market, we find dozens of stalls dedicated to antiques and collecting, and many others focused on decoration and artisanal products (all kinds of pieces and clothing made by artisan workers from the region).
Moreover, many of the vendors come from other parts of Spain and bring with them products originating from exotic countries such as India, Vietnam, Morocco, or the Philippines.
Old gramophones, World War II helmets, natural artisanal soaps, vintage clothing, sculptures, and old photo machines are some of the objects that can be found here.
COMILLAS (CANTABRIA)
Comillas is such a charming town that Gaudí himself left a jewel there called “El Capricho.”
This coastal town in Cantabria also has a one of the best flea markets in Spain that takes place every Friday morning in the squares of Constitución, Corro, and Fuente Tres Caños.
Dozens of merchants sell fruits, vegetables, sausages, nuts, and other food items, but also handicrafts, footwear, accessories, decoration, flowers, plants, and other curious objects.
MERCADILLO HIPPY DE LA MOLA (FORMENTERA)
Formentera island has always had a certain hippie vibe. Its tranquil beaches and magnificent nature create an energy that incites this type of lifestyle philosophy.
Here, especially in the 1970s, free spirits gathered to enjoy nature and the absence of rules.
As a magnificent legacy of those years, in the town of El Pilar de la Mola, a fun hippie market is held every Wednesday and Sunday from May to October.
In it, many artisans who came to the island decades ago following their lifestyle sell their products to tourists and locals.
We will find various objects worked in wood, silver, leather, and other materials. In addition, there are usually live concerts, storytelling, dancing, and theater, accompanied by food stalls and a relaxed and joyful atmosphere like few others.
ELS ENCANTS (BARCELONA)
Competing in antiquity with the one in Seville, Els Encants market has been installed in different points of Barcelona for over seven centuries.
Hundreds of stalls are located near Avenida Meridiana and Torre Agbar, occupying an area of 33,000 square meters that is now under a huge mirrored cover.
Here, there is a great mix of tourists and locals, some looking for an alternative and colorful place, and others to find a unique piece at a very good price.
On offer, both at ground level and on tables and stalls, are antiques of all kinds, jewelry, clothing, books, and, in reality, almost any curious object we can imagine.
EL RASTRO DE MADRID
There is practically no one in Spain who has not heard of the Rastro de Madrid at least once. It is the quintessential flea market.
It spreads all its charms on Sundays and holidays in the central streets of the capital.
It has been documented since 1740 and was, in its origins, a meeting place for the exchange, sale, and haggling of second-hand clothing, being an alternative to the business of street vending.
Today, in the Plaza del Cascorro and the surrounding Ribera de Curtidores, it presents more than a thousand stalls where we can find:
Handicrafts, accessories, clothing, collectibles, records, second-hand books and magazines, antiques, kitchen items, tools, and many other things.
But without a doubt, the Rastro is, above all, a place to sit and watch and negotiate people passing by.
EL RASTRO DE VALENCIA
The capital of Turia also has its second-hand market and it is one of the most popular and extensive in Spain.
It is held every Sunday and holiday morning on Avenida de los Naranjos, and more than 300 vendors gather there.
Locals say that it is almost as old as the city itself, and the first references speak of a market of scrap dealers, booksellers, ragpickers, and sellers of old furniture and antiques, which was established in the surroundings of the current Central Market.
Since then, it has changed location on numerous occasions, but as with other markets of the same style in Spain: what never changes is how it makes us feel when we drop by.
These markets are like a window to the past. A window to an oasis of tranquility, beauty, where time stands still and we feel again the relationship and human communication.
Two things that the modern world is taking away from us at an unimaginable speed. Let’s hold on to those stalls of trinkets and antiques, because they are much more than that.
EL JUEVES (SEVILLA)
Many experts in the art of haggling and street vendors in cities say that “El Jueves” Market – or Thursday Market – is the oldest of those held in Spain.
And to find its origins, we have to go back to the time of the Reconquest.
The first references to it are from the year 1292, when King Sancho established the rules that regulated the celebration of that street market, which was already known by its current name and took place every Thursday.
Since then, obviously, it has undergone many changes, one of which is its location. Currently, the stalls of the Thursday Market in Seville are spread along the emblematic (and central) Feria Street, as well as in the Montesion and Los Maldonados squares.
There, every Thursday morning of the year – except for Holy Thursday – we can find antiques, paintings, handicrafts, collector’s items:
Cards, comics, miniature cars, glass jars, antique toys and dozens of other things, trinkets, second-hand clothing, ceramics, movie posters, hats, bicycles, exotic masks, religious figures, and much more.
The colors are everything. Both the colors of the houses on Feria Street and the ones we see in the stalls and in buyers and sellers.
As a good street market, there are no established prices at the Thursday Market in Seville, and the game of haggling is a tradition that no one wants, nor should, break.
A historic street market where it is impossible not to buy something on each visit. The same thing happened to the Duchess of Alba herself, who bought dozens of antique watches in a place that had her smitten.